Chez Dre, South Melbourne

Chocolate tart: chocolate ganache, peanut-cocoa nib tuile, 
chocolate mousse. Make sure you do not leave here without 
one of these babies!

I first came to this hidden gem while browsing for a new cafe for delicious cake and coffee.  After reading some online reviews I was hooked.  It is conveniently located near the South Melbourne Market and easily accessible by trams.  I love the decor, sort of revamp of an old industrial building with an open kitchen located in the heart of the restaurant.  There is a small outdoor area which is heated in the cold Melbourne winter - bonus!

One you passed through by the busy diners and hectic kitchen you will arrive at the cake display - oh wow what a selection!  There is a vast range of delightful cakes, petite macaroons and to die-for croissants available.  The first time I came here we shared cakes and quiche and later returned for brunch the second time.  To be honest that the cakes and the quiche were FANTASTIC, BUT...I was disappointed with the brunch food and their specialty hot chocolate (Ganache Chocolate is still the best in my personal opinion).  I suppose I was expecting more from their food with such good cakes available, this is why it is always dangerous to have high expectations...  If you're a fussy brunch eater like me this probably isn't the place for you.  However, I will definitely return for more cake and coffee once in a blue moon. The cakes are delicious but expensive, $8.50 per cake according to their menu online which I believe is an older version and think it was $9.00 when I went last week.  I will just have to add this place to the collection of my "treat list" for special occasions, since it is always so hard to resist delicious Gateaux!

Hazelnut-Praline Crunch: hazelnut dacquoise, gianduja mousse, hazelnut and chocolate crumble.  10/10 for desert.  Crunchy base, smooth creamy 
mouse and was definitely nutty from the hazelnut.
 YUMMY!

Quiche of the day: ham and cheese with salad. 

The pastry was so amazing my mouth waters just 

thinking about it.

Braised Mushroom Ragu: Swiss field and button mushrooms, soft polenta, poached egg & truffle oil.
This dish was delicious but lacked seasoning. I wish there was slightly more acidity to balance out the dish.  Towards the end of the meal it I found it was too rich to finish.

Brioche French Toast: caramelized pecan, vanilla mascarpone & berry compote.  The brioche was excellent and pecan nut were very delicious.  Individually they are fantastic but when you combined them it was sugar overload.  Maybe slightly more salt in the brioche, more acidic berry or more sauce could have helped.

OVERALL

FOOD: Coffee and cakes are delicious, not so convinced by their breakfast menu items.

PRICE: Cakes are expensive and brunch food price is on the high end or pricey.

SERVICE: Services have always been good with tentative and friendly staff members.
ATMOSPHERE: This is definitely a hip brunch place and it is also family friendly and a great place to catch up with friends on a lazy Sunday morning.

Summary:  Coffee and cake is all I need to say!

Cumulus - Flinders Lane, Melbourne CBD

Cumulus is pretty high up there with the clouds and is by far the best find since I moved over to Melbourne, and brunch has gone from great to beyond amazing with Cumulus on a lazy Sat/Sun morning.  Just thinking about this place while writing makes me salivate and cannot wait for another visit!

This place has been jammed packed every time I visited but never had to wait long for a table. I love their decor and open plan-kitchen, there is just something sexy about open-plan kitchen that I cannot put into words. If you come here in small numbers, definitely sit on the bar stool facing the kitchen - so intriguing watching the chefs working away and if you are there when they changeover from breakfast to lunch service, you would be amazed how they transform the kitchen!  

Now about their food, the picture says a thousand words! But I will still talk a little about it. I have to-date sampled many of their delightful creations and I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with their "Grilled Lyonnaise sausage, parsley & shallot salad 65/65 egg". This scrumptious egg and haricot beans dish will hit the spot every time. If you enjoy grapefruit, they do freshly squeezed grapefruit juice here and is a fantastic combo with the grilled Lyonnaise sausage.

The thing that I look forward to the most is their delectable Madeleine with lemon curd. It is made-to-order so always freshly baked from the oven and filled with cooled rich lemony curd, the Madeleine is soft and fluffy and absolutely perfect with a cup of coffee and a fantastic way to finish the brunch.  Make sure you don't leave without sampling one of these babies!

OVERALL

FOOD: Fantastic!

PRICE: The cafe is on the pricey side, but their food is really worth it.

SERVICE: Friendly.

ATMOSPHERE: The open kitchen is fantastic.

Summary:  Great food and service, this place is lazy weekend brunch at its best.

House made crumpets, whipped ricotta & rooftop honey

Selection of fresh fruits and minty yoghurt.

Shakshouka-baked eggs with roasted peppers and shanklish

Toasted honey granola & poached rhubarb with vanilla yoghurt

Takapuna Beach Cafe

Needing to go somewhere hip and with good coffee while the summer lasts in Auckland, New Zealand?  Why not venture to the Takapuna Beach Cafe located at the end of the Promenade Parade, literally right next to the Takapuna beach - perfect location on a sunny day.  They have a great selection of breakfast/brunch food (including many gluten free options), fantastic coffee and what is more important is their big selection of Gelato including the classics as well as the exotic flavours like coconut, which is amazing by the way!

Coffee lovers, you cannot leave this place without a proper ice coffee - two generous scoops of vanilla ice cream, a shot of espresso and a small pint of milk to go with it (otherwise you just have an affogato which is also fine by me).  It comes in 3 separate vessels so you can choose to eat your ice cream first or have it as an affogato and then wash it down with milk or you can combine them all! - the choice if yours, you have the power :)

For many years now, one dish has drawn me to Takapuna Cafe - their pan fried sole with garlic butter served with grilled sourdough.  Unfortunately 2 years ago it seems to have disappeared from the menu which is a HUGH disappointment to me as it was delicious, reasonably priced and you get a whole sole to your self!  Since the disappointment I had to find replacement, so here it is below, Crispy Agria rosti with baby spinach, feta, free range poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, served with crispy organic bacon and greens - delicious! The bacon is cripy, the rosti is crunchy and you have the egg yolk slowly oozing out that get mixed up with the hollandaise sauce, this is my kind of heaven :) 

This place could be overwhelming for those not used to the crowds. They do try to squeeze as many people in as possible, so you will be very cosy to your friends and families as well as your new found neighbours.  They had approximately 15 waiters on deck on a busy sunny Sunday afternoon, and it took all 15 waiters approximately 20 mins of walking pass a group of us to realise that we existed and needing service.  But after the first encounter, their service was great, tentative and the food came out fast.  So if you find it hard to get their first attention, don't feel it's personal.  What I love is on a sunny day, the waiter goes around and offer people hats to wear - though from a hygiene point of view I wouldn't accept the hat, but it is good to know that the option is there.  Lastly, if you do want a more personalised service, avoid rush hours and you would be fine, or just come for the coffee and gelato and enjoy what Takapuna Beach has to offer.

So why not try something different and try the Takapuna Beach Cafe, and what is great is you get to walk along the white sandy beach and enjoy the gorgeous view of Rangitoto Island and maybe some sailing to aid your digestion :)

OVERALL

FOOD: Great cafe food.

PRICE: Moderate to high  for cafe food price.

SERVICE: On a busy days (sunny Sat and Sun afternoon) you can be ignored but other days they are very good with their service.

ATMOSPHERE: Noisy but lively inside and great outdoor area.

Summary: Sunny day spent in Takapuna Beach Cafe is just great over a cup of delicious coffee and finishing it with even more delicious gelato.

Breakfast for Champions - Scrambled Eggs

In a large iron cast pot, the eggs and butter are gently
and continuously stirred to get that great scrambled effect.

You may wonder what is breakfast fit for a champion?  I would have to say EGGS!  Here I share with you one of my favourite egg recipe - THE SCRAMBLE EGGS!  If you like to learn more of the nutritional side of eggs read on, otherwise jump below for the AWESOME scramble eggs recipe.

Imagine an egg has the essential nutrients to create a life - "it has all the essential amino acids (which are building blocks for proteins) for human, with several essential vitamin and mineral and high choline".  Most of people are familiar with protein, vitamins and minerals, but you may wonder what is choline? and why is so important that I mentioned it here.  "Egg yolks are the most concentrated source of choline in the American diet..." Choline has been identified to be a vital nutrient that most of us these days are not eating enough of.  Studies have shown an elevated demand of choline during pregnancy and lactation and in elderly study found below Adequate Intake of choline intake has be associated with "Fatty Liver/Liver Dysfunction".  So it is important to ingest sufficient levels of choline, although through eggs would be the easiest but this is by no means to start eating lots of eggs.  Liver is another concentrated source of Choline, however if you don't like either eggs or liver check out USDA Database for the Choline Content of Common Foods for other sources of food with choline.

There is only 4 eggs here but 5 yolks!  I do like double
yolked eggs - this was a pleasant surprise ^.^

Life is about balance, you cannot eat too much of one thing.  Yes, there are potential risks to watch out for as well with eggs.  There are ongoing debates regarding the potential adverse effects of cholesterol and fat from egg yolks.  Conflicting studies have suggested both beneficial and detrimental effect of eggs with Cholesterol and Type II Diabetes.  Basic rule of thumb - if you start including eggs in your diet and finding that your cholesterol and sugar levels tend to elevate then watch out and eat in moderation.

Rachel's Scramble Eggs

As a fencer, I use to travel a lot especially within New Zealand.  I use to stay with a foilist name Rachel Rowlands down in Christchurch, New Zealand, like myself, she is an absolutely foodie.  This is the recipe for scramble eggs she cooked for me for breakfast once, and served with grilled honey streaky bacon, toasted bread and grilled tomatoes - YUM!

6 eggs 100 g butter Salt and pepper Chives for garnish

1.       Start off by cracking all the eggs into a medium cold pan.  Roughly cut up the butter and put it in with the eggs. 2.       With a low to medium heat gently cook the eggs while stirring with a wooden spoon until glossy and lumpy.  It is vital to constantly stirring the eggs to accomplish the lumpy finish.  Always undercook the scramble eggs as it’ll continue to cook even after you’ve removed it from the pan. 3.       Serve with garnish of chives.  Can be serve on toasted (and buttered) bread or crumpets and with grilled bacon, sausages or salmon.

The garnish is not essential, do not add it if you do not need it or have it.  Some people may find chopped up spring onions a preferred garnish.  I sometimes find that a few tear-up fresh basil leafs is a good garnish if I am also having grilled tomato with it.

Tip:  I tend not to salt/pepper my scramble eggs when serving to others as everyone has like their salt and pepper to different degrees.  It is easier to add more salt and pepper and extremely difficult to remove it.  Also I usually leave my scramble eggs a little bit under done, though not everyone's cup of tea, you can leave it in the pan a bit longer for those who likes it well done.

Cheesy Variation

Add a handful of grated cheese at the very end while the egg is still in the pan and just before serving. 

NOTE:  A good choice of cheese would be a strong cheese with low melting point.  I’ve found Tasty cheese a good choice but often require finer grating to ensure sufficient melting finish.  Parmesan is always a classic.  For something different mix equal quantities of mozzarella cheese with parmesan for a stringy effect.  For a strong finish, a few small knobs of blue cheese.